Poland’s foreign minister publicly challenged Elon Musk on Wednesday after Ukrainian forces reported sudden restrictions on Starlink services that disrupted combat drone operations, asking whether the billionaire was again “playing politics” with his company. Additionally, there are now repots that President Donald Trump is considering severely limiting or cutting off intelligence to Ukraine entirely.
Sikorski posted on X while quoting a Kyiv Independent report on the restrictions: “Hey, Elon Musk, big man, are you playing politics with your products again? As your European customers, we are watching you.”
Hey, @elonmusk, big man, are you playing politics with your products again?
As your European customers, we are watching you.
— Radosław Sikorski 🇵🇱🇪🇺 (@sikorskiradek) October 14, 2026The message came hours after Ukrainian officials said SpaceX had limited its military-grade Starshield package. Terminals lost connectivity when traveling faster than roughly 100 mph (160 km/h), with no advance notice. Presidential adviser Serhiy Beskrestnov said the change caused several missions to fail. A source with the 7th Rapid Reaction Corps confirmed impacts on drone control and logistics as well.
Starlink supports longer-range drone strikes on Russian supply lines. Poland funds more than 29,000 terminals at roughly $50 million a year.
Separately, Semafor reported Wednesday that the idea of cutting or limiting intelligence sharing with Ukraine is under active discussion inside the White House. President Trump publicly downplayed any cutoff, telling reporters the previous day that the U.S. is still sharing intelligence and “we help them,” while stressing his goal of ending the war.
An administration official told Semafor, however, that “Trump is pretty pissed off. He could order it.”
The official suggested any restriction would focus on intelligence for targets inside Russia. CIA Director John Ratcliffe is said to oppose the idea.
There have been repeated Trump administration warnings that continued Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries could lead to suspension of intelligence sharing and European purchases of U.S. weapons via the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL). The pressure is linked to Trump’s efforts to lower diesel prices, including a deal with Russia on fuel supplies and calls for an “energy ceasefire.” Zelensky has noted the absence of advance warnings on some recent Russian missile strikes. Trump briefly suspended intelligence sharing last year after a tense meeting with Zelensky.
On top of tension between Trump and Zelensky, Sikorski also looms large in relation to Musk.
Sikorski’s “big man” phrasing is a pat of a long-running feud. In March 2025, Musk said Ukraine’s “entire front line would collapse if I turned it (Starlink) off.” Sikorski noted Poland paid the bills and would seek alternatives if the service proved unreliable; Musk replied, “Be quiet, small man.” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged gratitude. Musk later said Starlink would never be turned off or used as a bargaining chip.
The reality is, however, that there is currently little alternative to Starlink, which is seen as a premier communications technology.
Musk had not publicly replied to Sikorski by late Wednesday and SpaceX did not immediately comment on the service limits.
